Monday, July 2, 2012

SuperPhillip's Favorite VGMs - Firework Frenzy Edition

The Fourth of July celebrates the United States' founding as its own entity and country. A typical Fourth consists of barbeques and fireworks, and while this edition of the VGMs has no BBQ food to be found, it does have fireworks of its own. On this week's installment we have music from F-Zero, Conker's Bad Fur Day, and Pikmin.

Be prepared to see a lot of Super Smash Bros. Brawl arrangements and remixes on my favorite VGMs. That game and its flurry of popular Japanese composers did a wonderful job of re-imagining classic Nintendo songs from the company's extensive catalog. Composer Yasufumi Fukuda's Mute City arrangement is but one of these fantastic songs from Brawl which came from the original Super Nintendo F-Zero game. When the theme rocks out at 1:08, one can't help but be impressed and moved by the marvelous guitar riffs being showcased.

The DS entries of the Zelda franchise consist of heavily polarized opinions. Some, like myself, love both, while others hate the touch only controls. Spirit Tracks is criticized by some because of the train transportation around the world map. I happened to enjoy it, and I truly loved the accompanying music that joined you as you traveled along the high speed rails, this song. One of my favorite parts of the game was the dynamic between Link and Zelda, who served a much more important gameplay role than in any other franchise title. Koji Kondo, Asuka Ohta, Toru Minegishi, and Manaka Tominaga penned the soundtrack for this atypical Legend of Zelda game.

A song that sends you back to the roaring 20's with its jaunty jazz, Windy (Overworld) is a perfect example of the compositional geniuses that worked at Rare back in the company's good old days. The actual game was unlike the majority of Rare's 3D platformers as the only main thing to collect within the game was wads of money. Compare that to Donkey Kong 64 and the difference is night and day. Throw in one foul-mouthed squirrel (a complete change from his appearance in Conker's Pocket Tales and Diddy Kong Racing) and a game that hard-to-find, and you have Conker's Bad Fur Day.

One of the boss encounters of Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure has you taking on a mezzo soprano opera singer aboard his stage. This is the theme that plays during that battle. Henry Hatsworth was a game developed by Dream Rift who would go on to create such intriguing gaming experiences like Monster Tale and the upcoming Disney Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion. They certainly know how to develop some creative 2D platformers.

This gentle melody and accompaniment encompasses you in the Forest of Hope, an area which with wildlife, nature, and pieces of Captain Olimar's Dolphin spaceship to collect. Olimar isn't alone, thankfully. He has the help of the local natives of the planet he crash landed on, the Pikmin, coming in three varieties: red, yellow, and blue. Whichever version of the game you get, whether it's the GameCube original or the Wii port, Pikmin is a modern classic.

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I hope all Americans enjoy the Fourth of July, despite half of the country being covered in dangerously hot temperatures for a lengthy series of days. As for everyone else, enjoy the week as you normally would. Until next time, check out the VGM Database for a full listing of songs you might have missed.